Still has a heart
by Nargles-made-me-do-it
Summary: Sue Sylvester is not a nice person. She knows this. All of Lima knows this. The world should know this. People should know who she is. But sometimes there are those people who worm their way into her heart and linger there, like the stench of whatever back alley bought, sulphurous slime Butt Chin uses on his hair. Damn them.


**I DON'T OWN GLEE!**

Sue Sylvester is not a nice person. She knows this. All of Lima knows this. The world should know this.

People should know who she is.

But sometimes there are those people who worm their way into her heart and linger there, like the stench of whatever back alley bought, sulphurous slime Butt Chin uses on his hair.

Damn them.

People like her sister Jeanie, who is quite possibly the kindest person the world never deserved to know.

She even does it at that awful school, where her squad of perfectly trained Cheerios is the only thing that doesn't make her want to rip her own eyes out- or better yet, rip out Schuester's, as it's clear he doesn't use them. It's Jeanie rubbing off on her, always would be, but she's found herself with a certain…willingness to…coexist with the underdog. Not the proper underdog, not like Schuester and his little band of brainwashed pixies, skipping along singing songs about rainbows and sunshine and whining about how hard it is having two people who want to date you and how everyone thinks they're losers (she's still not sure why they think life is so hard, as they're all good-looking, a quarter are on her Cheerios and almost half are on the football team.)

But those who've been forced into the underdog position when they are so much more than what people think. People like Becky Jackson, who she loves like a daughter, who is so sure of herself, who is such a brilliant minio-assistant, she reminds herself- to her and, she'll admit it, reminds her of her sister. People like sweet, baby Porcelain, who has been through more crap than anyone in the whole stinking school and still walks around with his head held high and a witty comeback at hand and that little hopeful smile on his face because he- like Becky, like Sue- knows that he's better than them all.

Sue Sylvester is, at least to those sniveling babies she is forced to breathe the same air as (and she includes that pathetic man Figgins in that description), a bully.

Honestly, just because she screams abuse and cares more about a national championship than the physical wellbeing of her Cheerios and shoves students into lockers and completion down stairs and sometimes she has rampages where she destroys half the school, doesn't mean she's a bully. You just don't win six consecutive national championships by being _nice_.

But Sue Sylvester has seen how much bullies hurt her sister and she'll be damned if she doesn't do something to stop it. Not to everyone of course. There is a social ladder and her Cheerios are on top, which is all that matters. But for those with special places in her heart.

When Becky Jackson walks into her Cheerios try outs, she also manages to walk into Sue's heart. Watching her trip over her skipping rope reminds her of when she and Jeanie were young and learning to ride bikes. Jeanie would fall off almost immediately, but she kept getting back on, again and again until (with quite a lot of help from Sue) she could do it. For Becky's first Cheerio practice, Sue teaches her to skip.

And Will Schuester has the nerve to wander in there and tell her that she needs to treat Becky differently than she does everyone else, that this is all just to be cruel. Like he knows anything about her. And when a week later Becky is skipping like a pro, Sue Sylvester gets three things; the first of many signature Becky Jackson smiles; a brand new assistant; and confirmation of her theory that Will Schuester knows nothing about teaching. Maybe it was selfish, when she first let Becky onto the Cheerios just because she reminded her of her sister, but now she couldn't be gladder that she let her on. It's sad really, that no one at this school allowed Becky to show what she was capable of. So maybe Becky isn't as highly valued outside her office, but she doesn't get bullied and she knows that once she finally takes over the world, she won't have to worry about her second-in-command stabbing her in the back.

Becky, at least, has the common courtesy to stab her in the front.

But her influence over Porcelain is a different story. At first she'd only let him onto the Cheerios partially for his voice, mostly to annoy Schuester. Nothing brings joy to her life like annoying that irritating man-child. But then after a mind-numbingly painful chat on his _sexuality_ , of all things (this is why Sue never talked to students if she could help it. Actions speak louder than words and all that, expect to Curly-Fries, who needs both to get through his gel-mutated mind), Sue found herself noticing him more often. With the ambition, wit and flawless bone structure of a young Sue Sylvester, she'd found herself admiring him, though he was far too forgiving for her liking. It would seem that Schuester's life view of 'Sing about it and everything magically becomes okay' was transferring to his students.

She also saw the bullying that the other teachers walked past without a glance. Locker slams, dumpster dives, bag thrown about, possessions hidden and whole slushie cups emptied on his head or directly in his face. She watched as he just (creatively) insulted whomever and walked away with his nose in the air and his dignity mostly intact. He never broke, Sue noticed, and if there was one thing she could respect, it was someone who didn't let anyone else break them. And it was in this way that he sneakily curled himself around the center of her heart.

The bullies were never anything more than he could handle, so she settled being a silent ally, helping only when he came to her first and it would mess with glee club, such as reporting the Jesus week. Sue was seriously starting to worry about he next generation. If your supposed best friend, who is going through hell at the moment, says that what you're doing isn't helping as he _doesn't believe_ in it, most people would respect his wishes. If _It_ hadn't wanted her to go to Figgins, he should've accepted his student's wishes, shouldn't he? (On the other hand, it was rather strange that Figgins was banning religious songs now when a year ago that awful club had only been allowed to sing songs about Jesus and balloons.)

Then Karofsky happens.

For a long time, even she doesn't see anything happening. It's not until the man-lusting-after-a-woman-in-a-relationship bursts into her office, a shaking Porcelain in tow, that she realises something is seriously wrong. Then he tells what has been happening to him for weeks, the terror he feels inside these walls, and Sue curses everything on this miserable planet that Porcelain's far too kind to allow her to tie this boy to a chair in her office, Taser a kidney out of him and force him to eat it. She needs to put the necessary torture of idiot students into her contract…

But she can't do anything and they all know that and as she watches Lady, now rechristened Porcelain, leave her office with the same terrified expression on her face, there is only thing she knows for certain.

They are breaking him.

And it all sort of goes downhill from there.

Porcelain's terrifying father (or would be terrifying if Sue hadn't had her fear glands removed when she joined the CIA) brings (drags) Karofsky into her office, ranting and coming close to committing murder. Sue has nothing against a good, healthy does of homicide, but she likes the carpet in here far too much. Then Karofsky's father gets called in and the whole story comes out. Someone has threatened the life of sweet, baby-faced Porcelain.

This will not stand.

She knew there was bullying in the school. There's bullying in every school. But this has gone outside the boundaries of high school bullying and the only one allowed to terrorize the students is her, especially when no one is doing anything about it. Maybe she's mad with power (you don't get as many things done when you go mad without power, she's learnt), but she's still got power and this time, she's going to use it for good.

It stops people suspecting her.

So of course she expels that Karofsky kid and it's worth it for the look of relief on Porcelain's face (and the shock that someone's finally done something).

It doesn't last.

A week later she gets the news that the board is repealing Karofsky's expulsion. He'll be back in school and the terrified expression will be back on Porcelain's face, maybe for good. She steps down as principal in response because the forced underdogs like him don't have many people on their side. Maybe it won't make a difference to the decision, but Sue thinks it makes a difference to him and that's good enough.

Not good enough to keep him in the school though.

A few days later she's watching from her office window as Porcelain walks out of the school doors for the last time. He's off to Dalton Academy, a fancy all-boys school with a no bullying policy and so many gay jokes Sue can't stop thinking of them, where he won't flinch every time there's a loud noise. It's the only thing that can protect him (since it looks like she can't do anything) and for the first time in her life Sue Sylvester feels like a failure. (Is this how the overgrown toddler feels all the time? No wonder he's so obsessed with living out his crushed dreams through teenagers he's _far_ too close to). As he pushes open the door with that little hopeful smile on his face, Sue feels her heart break.

Sue Sylvester is not a nice person, except to those special people who somehow become important to her.

Sue Sylvester is not a nice person, but she's human. She still has a heart.

(She's really going to have to do something about that.)

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